Hassabis first came across the protein folding problem as an undergraduate at Cambridge in the 1990s.

True if evidence independent of the claim, or Hassabis's earlier consistent accounts, shows he studied as an undergraduate at Cambridge in the 1990s (about 1994–1997, Queens' College, Computer Science) and first met the protein folding problem there. Mostly true if he was a Cambridge undergraduate in the 1990s and first met the problem around that time, but the exact setting differs slightly (for example through a friend at Cambridge rather than in his course). Mostly false if he was a Cambridge undergraduate but documented accounts place his first exposure to protein folding clearly elsewhere or later. False if he was not a Cambridge undergraduate in the 1990s.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 University of Cambridge alumni awarded 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry University of Cambridge · 9 October 2024

   “Sir Demis Hassabis read Computer Science as an undergraduate at Queens' College, Cambridge, matriculating in 1994.”

2. E2 Demis Hassabis — Biography, Career & Key Ideas Faster Than Normal · 5 October 2026

   “It was at Cambridge, in the nineties, that he first came across the protein folding problem.”

3. E3 GSB: A Conversation with Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind (Transcript) SingJu Post · 2 June 2026 Own record

   “I had my kind of eye on that since also my undergrad days at Cambridge. Just when I first came across it, I had a few biologist friends who were obsessed with the protein folding problem.”

4. E4 The Future of AI and Scientific Discovery – An Interview with Sir Demis Hassabis (1994, Honorary Fellow & Fellow Benefactor) - Queens' College Queens' College, Cambridge · 25 April 2025

   “You studied Computer Science here in Cambridge as an undergraduate, and after a period working in the games industry, you completed a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL.”

E1, from the University of Cambridge, and E4, from Queens' College, confirm that Hassabis read Computer Science as an undergraduate at Queens' College and matriculated in 1994. That places him at Cambridge as an undergraduate in the 1990s. E2, an independent biography, says he first came across the protein folding problem at Cambridge in the nineties. In E3, Hassabis says that when he first came across the problem as an undergraduate at Cambridge, he had a few biologist friends who were obsessed with it. This points to exposure through friends, not necessarily his course, which the criteria treat as a slight difference in setting, so the verdict is mostly true.